Parachute unfastener



Jan. 8, 1952 L. A. V. ROZAS PARACHUTE UNFASTENER 2 SHEETS--SHEET l Filed May l0, 1950 7 .ald w ,3 3%

Jan. 8, 1952 L.. A. v. ROZAS 2,581,557

PARACHUTE UNFASTENER Filed May lO, 1950 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 I: J y

Q \n\ Q J! J1 6 A J0 Patented Jan. 8, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PARACHUTEUNFASTENER Luis Alberto Yillafuerte Rozas, Cuzco, Peru Application May 10,1950, serial No. 161,111

3 Claims. 1

The present invention relates to parachute's and in particular, to a releasable fastener for attaching the parachute to the body harness so that the parachute can be quickly and easily detached when the chutist lands.

One object ofl the invention is to provide a quick detachable fastener for securing the parachute to the body harnessv so that the chutist can unfasten the parachute from his harness quickly and conveniently and before the wind has a chance to pull the chutist along the ground, and cause possible bodily injury.

Another objectisl to provide a releasable fas* tener for quickly detaching the parachute from the body harness when the chutist lands, and which is within convenient reach of the chutist to facilitate quick and easy detachment and prevent the parachute from dragging the chutist along the ground.

Another object is to provide a quick detachable fastener for connecting a parachute to a body harness which is positively held in place and manually operable to permit the convenient and quick unfastening of the parachute from the harness of the chutist.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent during the course of the following description of the drawings wherein:

Figure l is a vertical cross-sectional view of the releasable fastener showing the manner in which the same is held in a locked position.

Figure 2 is a front elevational view of the detachable fastener showing the4 latch holding` member in its locked position and the manner in which it can be swung or rocked to a position of release by manipulating the hand control (dotted lines). f

Figure 3 is a horizontal cross-sectional view taken on line 3--3 of Figure 2 and looking in the direction of the arrows, to illustrate the sliding latch release and the offset keeper arm carried by the latch member.

Figure 4 is a vertical cross-sectional View similar to Figure I, but showing the parts in their unlatched position.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary front elevational view' similar to Figure 2; but showing the latch retaining slide in its uppermost position corre-v Figure 7 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the closure plug for the lower end of the latch or detachable fastener and illustrating the piv votal connection between the latch member and the closure plug.

Figure-8 is a perspective view of the latch mem1 ber showing the offset arm thereon which is adapted to be held in place and interlockingly engaged by the keeper member on the control slide.

Figure 9 is a fragmentary perspective view of the releasablestrap to which the parachute cords are aixed to the upper end, and showing the keeper opening in the lower end for being releasably engaged by the latch member.

Figure 10' is a front elevational view of the device illustratingI the manner in which the same is employed for detachably connecting the cords of a parachute to the body harness and Figure l1 is a view similar to Figure 10 show'- ing the manner in which the parachute can be released and unfastened. from the body harness when the chutist lands.

In the drawings, and more in detail. there is shown for the purpose of convenience of illustration (Figures l0 and 11) a conventional parachute generally designated 5 which is releasably connected to a harness likewise generally designated t by the usual cords generally designated 'l. The invention consists in providing a releasable'fastener generally designated 8 for detachably fastening the parachute cords 'l to the harness 6 such that the chutist Il) may quickly and easily unfasten the parachute when he lands (Figure 1l).

The harness and parachute are of the backtype, and the harness 6 includes a pair of straps H which pass over' the shoulders and beneath the crotch and are held in place by waist and chest straps |'2 and |13 respectively (Figure l0). The harness straps Il are usually formed of leather or similar material and are provided with looped straps t4 held in place by multiple rows oi stitching l5. A hook I6' has its eye I1 secured in place by the loop I4 and a guard I8 of resilient metal is provided to protect the hook The detachable fastener 8 is adapted to be end wall 2l, and the lowerVV end closed by means of a.` closure plug 22. The closure plug 22 has 3 formed integral therewith a projection 23 having an opening 24 for receiving the hook |6 and said closure plug is adapted to be held in place in the lower end of the cylinder 2D by means of a pin 25 which passes through a diametrical opening 26 in the closure plug and also through correspondingly positioned openings 21 in the lower edge of the cylinder 29. -One end of the pin is provided with a head, and the opposite end from the head 28 projects beyond the peripheral wall of the cylinder to form a latch engaging projection 29. If desired a portion of the pin may be threaded to receive a threaded fastener 3D or said pin may be held in place by a Washer frictionally held in position.

The inner wall of the closure plug 22 is provided with a boss having a central slot to form a pair of spaced apart ears 3| between which is pivotally mounted a latch member 32. The lower end of the latch member is offset and shaped to provide a cylindrical bearing 33 through which a pivot bolt 34 ispassed (Figures 1 and 8). The latch bar 32 is provided with a hook 35 which is adapted to releasably engage a latch bar 36, which is slidably mounted in the opening 31 in the top wall 2| of the fastener 8. The hook 35 being received in a keeper opening 38 in the sliding latch bar 36. A leaf spring 39 has one end affixed to the cylinder by means of rivets 40, while the opposite end is presented to the latch bar 32 to normally yieldingly urge the hooked end 35 of the latch member 32 into locking engagement with the keeper opening 38.

The slot or opening 31 for slidably receiving the latch bar 36 is re-inforced by means of a cylindrical guide member 4| having the top and bottom walls thereof as at 42 and 43 connected by a guide sleeve 44, which is provided with an opening 45 corresponding in shape to the section of the latch bar 36 and likewise to the shape of the opening 31. An enlarged limiting stop 46 is formed on the latch bar and an eye 41 is formed at the upper end thereof for receiving the looped ends 48 of the parachute cords 1. A leaf spring 49 similar'to the spring 39 is affixed to the lower end of the cylinder 20 by rivets or the like `5|l, and said leaf spring is shaped to provide an end portion 5| adapted to yieldingly engage the lower end of the latch bar 36 and normally urge the same upwardly against the hooked end 35 of the latch member 32.

Formed on the latch member 32 at the upper end thereof is an offset portion 53 which is bent angularly (Figure 8) to provide an offset arm 54. The free end of the arm is enlarged as at 55 and is provided with a pin 56 on which is mounted a rotatable sleeve 51. vThe pin 56 and sleeve 51 are adapted to be engaged by means of a hooked keeper member 58 extending inwardly from a slide 59 which is arcuately curved and has its ends or vertical edges slidably received in ways 60 secured to opposite sides of a vertical slot 6| in the cylinder 26. Thus, by mov ing the arcuate slide to and fro the keeper hook 58 will engage and disengage the pin 56 and retain the hook 35 in the keeper` opening 38 of the latch bar 36 or will allow the same to be released.

Also. formed on the inner Wall of the arcuately curved sliding plate 59 is an enlarged boss 63 havmgan inclined surface '64 which is adapted to engage the pin 56 when the slide 59 is raised or movedin a vertical direction to disengage the latch hook 35 from the keeper opening 38 ofthe latch bar 36, (Figure 4), to thereby release said latch bar and permit the same to be moved upf wardly under the influence of the force exerted thereon and the yielding force exerted by the leaf spring 5|.

Journaled in the enlarged boss '63 is a rotatable pin 65 having an enlarged head 66 which is rotatably mounted in a correspondingly shaped opening in the boss 63. The pin |65 is also provided with an enlarged annular portion 61 and secured to the outer end thereof is the hub 68 of a manual control hand wheel 69. The manual control hand wheel 69 can also be used to move the slide to and fro on its ways 6U so that the hooked shaped keeper v5B and projection 63 will operate in the longitudinal slot 6| of the cylinder 20 and engage and disengage the pin 56 for controlling the movement of the latch member 32.

Y 'The slide 59 is adapted to be held in its lowermost position by means of a pivoted hasp 16 which is rockably mounted on the lower end of the arcuately curved slide 59 by means of a pivot pin 1|, and said hasp 10 has its lower'end formed to provide a hook12 which is adapted'toengage the projecting portion `29 of the pin 25 at the extreme lower portion of the cylinder 20. The upper end of the hasp lever 10 is offset as at 14 and is provided with anelongated slot 15 for receiving Yapin 16 secured to the manual control handle 69. Thus, rotation of the manual con trol handle 69 will rock the hasp lever 10 on its pivot pin 1| and move the hooked end 12 thereof into and out of engagement with the pin 29 (FigureZ) to fasten and release said sliding plate 59.

In operation, the parachute cords .l are at-` tached to the latch bar 36 and the detachable fastener cylinders 2lfare connected to the lioolis I6 of each shoulder strap Il. Thel latch bar 36 is then inserted in the opening 31 so that 'the hook 35v engages the keeper opening' 38'. The slide 59 is then moved downwardly to engage' the* hooked keeper. 59 with the pin 56 and the' manual control 69 is rotated orangularly disv placed to rock the hasp lever 16 and cause the hooked end 12 to engage the pin 29 (Figure 2).

The paratchute 5 is stored on the back of the chutist l0 in the usual manner, and when the chutist bails out of the plane the parachute opens as shown in Figure l0. When the chutist reaches the ground (Figure 11), he manipulates the manual control wheel 69 to first release the hasp 10Yfrom engagement with the 29 so that theipull force on the slide 59 will be ie'leiased.A By then' moving the slide 59 upwardly the hookedkeeperi58 will disengage the pin 56 and the in# clined surface 64 of the projection 63 `will engage the pin-f 56 and cause the hook 35 of the latch member 32 to be moved out of engagement with the keeper opening 38 ofthe latch bar 36against the yielding 'action of the leaf spring 39. The latch, bar 36 is then displaced bythe yielding force exerted on the lower end Vthereof by the leaf spring 5|, so that said latch bar 36 and the cords 1 of theparachute 5 will be released from the fastener 8 when the chutist reaches the ground (Figure 1l). 'f v If desired, only one of the releasable fasteners 8 may be released as shown in Figure 11 to per-l mit lthe air beneath the Vparachute 5 to escape and prevent the wind from dragging the chutist: I along the ground surface, thus permitting the.

parachute 5 to be still held by the'chutistwith'-` out .the liability of being dragged along the` ground surface by the wind. v

is be understoed that the form of the in-L vention herewith shown and described is to be taken as a preferred embodiment thereof and that various changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the subjoined claims.

I claim:

1. In combination with a parachute having a body harness, a separable fastener interposed between said parachute and harness comprising a cylindrical member affixed to one of the straps of the body harness having a slot in one of its closed ends, a latch bar removably mounted in said slot having an eye for receiving the cords of the parachute, a pivoted latch member within said cylindrical member having a hooked end adapted to engage a keeper opening in said latch bar, a slide on said cylindrical member, means on said slide to engage said pivoted latch bar and retain the same in its locked position, means on said slide to engage said pivoted latch bar to disengage said pivoted latch bar from said sliding latch bar, and manually controlled latch means on said slide to prevent to and iro movement thereof.

2. In combination with a parachute and body harness, a separable fastener for releasably connecting said parachute to said harness comprising a cylindrical member affixed to one of the straps of said latch member having a slot in one of its closed ends, a latch bar having an eye at one end adapted to be received in said slot, the cords of said parachute being connected to said eye, a pivoted latch mounted in said cylindrical member having a hooked end for being received in a keeper slot in said latch bar, an extension on said pivoted latch projecting laterally of said pivoted latch, yielding spring means for urging said pivoted latch into engagement with said latch bar, a slide on said cylinder having a hooked projection for releasably engaging said pivoted latch extension to hold said pivoted latch in engagement with said latch bar, a projection adjacent said hooked projection for engaging said extension to release said hooked end of the pivoted latch from engagement with said latch bar and a lock on said slide to hold said slide against to and fro movement.

3. .In combination with a parachute and body harness, a separable fastener for releasably connecting said parachute to said harness comprising a cylindrical member aixed to one of the straps of said latch member having a slot in one of its closed ends, a latch bar having an eye at one end adapted to be received in said slot, the cords of said parachute being connected to said eye, a pivoted latch mounted in said cylindrical member having a hooked end for being received in a keeper slot in said latch bar, an eX- tension on said pivoted latch projecting laterally of said pivoted latch, yielding spring means for urging said pivoted latch into engagement with said latch bar, a slide on said cylinder having a hooked projection for releasably engaging said pivoted latch extension to hold said pivoted latch in engagement With said latch bar, a projection adjacent said hooked projection for engaging said extension to release said hooked end of the pivoted latch from engagement with said latch bar, a latch on said slide to hold said slide against to and fro movement, and a manual control on said slide for operating the latch on said slide and facilitating to and fro movement of said slide When the latch on said slide is released.

LUIS ALBERTOt VILLAFUERTE ROZAS.

REFERENCES CITED UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Kubat Sept. 7, 1943 Number 

